Dinner at Orto

Mmm... Ollie and I went for dinner at my new fave restaurant the other night.

Orto is owned by the people who used to own my favourite cafe in Redfern, Sydney. Now they run this much more upscale restaurant, and it is truly delicious.

I am trying to get over my severe fear of being photographed... so here's a picture of me ready for dinner. I am wearing my new dress but you can't really tell because Ollie didn't take a full body shot (he has to get over his fear of taking photos!)

eek

And here's a picture of Ollie ready to go out too. We tried to take some photos together, but we ended up looking so awful that I simply erased them from my camera!

Looking suave.

We started the dinner with a bottle of A Retief Sauv Blanc, a Scotch Egg, and a Crab and Prawn Cocktail. I was starving and neglected to take photos of any of these things! You can see a picture of the egg, and read the Time Out review here. NB I think that it has definitely hit its stride since it was reviewed. Both appetizers were great, if fleeting!

For our main course we had a whole roast duck with pickled grapes, cherries, cashews and cos lettuce (romaine for you North Americans).

Um... YUM!

Pickled grapes are a revelation. Especially with duck. They really cut the fattiness of the skin in a most delightful way.

Since we're total lushes, we coupled the duck with a bottle of A Retief mixed red.

For dessert we had a chocolate torte filled with banana jelly and served with banoffee ice-cream. This was my idea... of course!

Such an excellent meal! And Orto is such a cute little place. I love the decor, especially these mason jar lanterns on the patio:

If you happen to be in Sydney, near Surry Hills, you should definitely try this place. You will need a reservation for sure, their website is here.

Bon Appetit!